Raptors’ Siakam is special. Really special.

Last season the Toronto Raptors ended the regular season with a record of 59-23 and securing the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. 59 wins are the most in franchise history. A couple of weeks after the regular season ended, the Raptors were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With an amazing regular season and is one series away from competing in the Conference Finals, the Raptors still felt as if a change was necessary. That came to this off-season when Toronto fired 7-year coach Dwane Casey and traded fan-favorite superstar DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs for an elite player in Kawhi Leonard. With that happening, Toronto would still need a push from other players in the organization to be able to turn this team into a serious title contender and among elite teams in the NBA.

8 years ago, Pascal Siakam didn’t even play basketball. Last week, he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Siakam has been on a tear this season averaging 14.1 PPG on 64% from the field and snagging 6.5 boards a game. Siakam had already shown signs of being a monster on defense and deadly in transition last season, but developing a spin move that deserves a highlight tape this season has turned him into a deadly post scorer. It’s still early in the season but Siakam looks like he’s here for the long run. Pascal proves night in and night out that he’s here to turn Toronto into a team that’ll be playing in June.